Getting Ready For Family Pictures

Getting ready for family pictures can be a fun yet stressful time of year. There’s tons of details to think about. Here are a few ways to make family picture time easier and more enjoyable.

Photographer

This is the most important item to get off your family picture check list. A good way to find a photographer is to ask a few friends for recommendations. You might also have a friend with a decent camera who would enjoy taking your family pictures. Lastly, if you have a decent camera you can buy a Bluetooth remote and tripod and take your own pictures. That way you have already invested in the equipment and can use it for years to come for family pictures and other special events.

Time of Day

Another thing to consider is the time of day to take your pictures especially if you want to do outdoor pictures. One to two hours before sunset is usually a good time or early morning hours. If you hire a professional photographer they will probably have a preference for which time a day to take the pictures. Don’t forget about nap time if you have little ones, you will need them well rested if you want to get those cute family pictures whether they are indoor or outdoor photos.

Location

Again, if you hire a professional photographer they will either have an indoor studio or have preferred outdoor locations. However, if you are doing your own photos it is best to research, and then scoop out the location at approximately the same time you want to do your family picture there. You can ask friends about locations they have done their pictures at too or check out some local photographer websites and see if they mention any locations in their photo descriptions.

Outfits

In my experience, it is best to keep the outfits simple and comfortable. I would pick neutral colors or if you prefer more colorful clothing pick only two colors mixed with neutrals. Another idea is to dress the kids in more colorful clothing and the adults in more neutral colors.

Holiday Cards

Now that you have taken some cute family pictures, what do you do with them. I usually get a few prints to update our picture frames in the house and give some to the extended family. Next, I start to plan out my holiday cards so I can get those out the first week of December. I like to design and print them on Walgreens.com. There I can pick up the cards in store within in hour on glossy paper usually or have matte paper cards delivered to my home. Amazon has nice holiday cards, and Shutterfly has many designs to pick from too. Shutterfly will usually have good coupon codes to save money on your holiday cards.

I hope these ideas make your family pictures more enjoyable and less stressful. I hope you have a lovely week!